Command reference
Conda provides many commands for managing packages and environments.
The links on this page provide help for each command.
You can also access help from the command line with the
--help
flag:
conda install --help
The following commands are part of conda:
Conda vs. pip vs. virtualenv commands
If you have used pip and virtualenv in the past, you can use conda to perform all of the same operations. Pip is a package manager and virtualenv is an environment manager. conda is both.
Scroll to the right to see the entire table.
Task |
Conda package and environment manager command |
Pip package manager command |
Virtualenv environment manager command |
---|---|---|---|
Install a package |
|
|
X |
Update a package |
|
|
X |
Update package manager |
|
Linux/macOS: |
X |
Uninstall a package |
|
|
X |
Create an environment |
|
X |
|
Activate an environment |
|
X |
|
Deactivate an environment |
|
X |
|
Search available packages |
|
|
X |
Install package from specific source |
|
|
X |
List installed packages |
|
|
X |
Create requirements file |
|
|
X |
List all environments |
|
X |
Install virtualenv wrapper, then |
Install other package manager |
|
|
X |
Install Python |
|
X |
X |
Update Python |
|
X |
X |
* conda activate
only works on conda 4.6 and later versions.
For conda versions prior to 4.6, type:
Windows:
activate
Linux and macOS:
source activate
* conda update python
updates to the most recent in the series,
so any Python 2.x would update to the latest 2.x and any Python 3.x
to the latest 3.x.